Fallout Remover Test

The Format

In order to determine the best performing fallout remover product on the market, the following test was conducted.

The concept is simple;

1. One product is applied to, and allowed to work on a surface - for this test I will be using them all on wheels,

2. The surface is then rinsed,

3. Then a second product is applied to and allowed to work on the same surface.

4. Meanwhile the opposite is conducted on a separate surface to provide a control.

The product that, when applied to surface second, picks up the greater amount of fallout is announced the winner and proceeds to the next "round" whilst the losing product is eliminated from the test. The theory is that if a product works well, the next one shouldn't have anything to react to, ergo the stronger the reaction of the secondary product, the weaker the primary was.

The test continues until only one product remains.

Whilst not an exhaustive list of available products, I intend to use as many as I feasibly can. Some products were added at a later stage, the timing of their appearance in the test should not be taken as indicative of their performance. The products used throughout the test were;

In all cases, except where specified, the surface in question was washed prior to the fallout removers being applied. Products were selected in no particular order.

Bilt Hamber Korrosol in action

The Fallout Remover Test

Preliminary Round

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Nanolex Wheel Cleaner and Iron Remover

Whilst designing the format of this test, Nanolex Wheel Cleaner was tested against an old version of another product in this test. As this old product is no longer available on the market, it has not been named here, but this test essentially determined the format for the following rounds. Think of this as a qualifier round.

Both products were applied to separate wheels and allowed to work for 5-6 minutes. Both wheels were rinsed clean. Nanolex was then applied to the wheel that had previously been treated with the other product and after 5 minutes there was little sign of any reaction. The other product was then applied to the wheel that had previously been treated with Nanolex and picked up several areas and numerous spots. Therefore, Nanolex Wheel Cleaner and Iron Remover is eliminated.

Round 1

Auto Finesse Iron Out vs. Wolfs Deironizer "Decon Gel"

Both products were applied to separate wheels and allowed to work for 7-8 minutes. Iron Out starts to react faster than Deironizer. taking around a minute to react compared to the 21/2 minutes of Deironizer. Both wheels were rinsed clean. Deironizer was then applied to the wheel that had previously been treated with Iron Out and after 8 minutes there was little sign of any reaction away from the iron wheel weights. Iron Out was then applied to the wheel previously treated with Deironizer and after 8 minutes there were a number of spots reacting across the surface.

Auto Finesse Iron Out progresses.

Round 2

AM Details AM Iron vs, Koch Chemie pH Balanced Wheel Cleaner

Both products were applied to separate wheels and allowed 5-6 minutes to work. AM Iron reacted more quickly than Koch Chemie (<1 minute compared to 3 minutes). Both wheels were rinsed clean. Koch Chemie was then applied to the wheel previously treated with AM Iron and after a further 5 minutes had not reacted to anything on the surface at all. AM Iron was applied to the wheel previously treated with Koch Chemie and after 5 minutes had picked up a significant amount of iron across the surface.

It should be noted that there is a fair bit of discussion about Koch Chemie's offering; some people, including Koch Chemie themselves, claim that it is a fallout remover whilst others, including Koch Chemie themselves, state that it is not a fallout remover at all. That is not a typo.

AM Details AM Iron progresses.

Round 2.1

Round 2.1

Due to low stock of AM Iron the loser from the round one, Wolfs Deironizer, was then immediately applied to both wheels from Round 2 (after the round two products were rinsed off) and after 5 minutes Deironizer was showing significant reactions on both wheels.

Therefore Koch Chemie and AM Iron were eliminated.

Round 3

Round 3

Gyeon Iron vs. Car Chem Revolt

Revolt is a typical fallout remover smell whilst Iron has a sweeter hint to it - make no mistake though, it's by no means pleasant still, the difference is akin to a rotting corpse versus a rotting corpse with a Battenberg cake in it's pocket (specifically a Batternberg cake, because that's the undertone scent of Iron, by the way).

Both were applied to separate wheels and allowed 6-7 minutes to work. Both reacted quickly, within 15 seconds. Both wheels were rinsed. Gyeon was applied to the wheel previously treated with Revolt and after 6-7 minutes had picked up one small spot. Revolt was then applied to the wheel previously treated with Gyeon and after 6-7 minutes had picked up considerably more spots and a small area across the surface.

Car Chem Revolt progresses.

Round 4

Round 4

GTechniq W6 vs. Dodo Juice Ferrous Dueller

W6 is a typical rotting corpse scented fallout remover whilst Ferrous Dueller is a much more pleasant, sweet scent - it's not going to double up as a air freshener but it's more pleasant to get a whiff of than others in this test. You know the routine by now, both given 5 minutes to work, rinsed, swapped, given another 5 minutes to work. On the second application Ferrous Dueller immediately picked up several spots. As did W6. After 5 minutes Ferrous Dueller picked up the greater amount, both in terms of number of spots and area covered by said spots.

Dodo Juice Ferrous Dueller progresses.

Continued...

Round 5

Round 5

CarPro Iron X vs, CarPro Iron X LS

CarPro currently offer no fewer than 4 (FOUR!!) fallout removers in their range; Iron X, Iron X Paste, Iron X LS and Iron X Snow Soap. I don't care about Paste. At all. So I didn't buy any of that. Iron X Snow Soap has interested me slightly, more on that later. CarPro claim Iron X LS (Lemon Scent) has "no more harsh odour with equal power of decontamination as you have come to expect from Iron X Classic". Classic retains the typical horrendous smell whilst LS is indeed lemon scented with undertones of peroxide. The usual routine was followed with 5 minute work times.

Upon second application LS picked up various areas, whilst Classic... also picked up various areas. "Equal power of decontamination" indeed! More rinsing occurred followed by a second swap and a third application - LS was applied to the wheel which started with LS then had Classic applied whilst Classic returned to its original wheel as well. LS reacted instantly but as the 5 minutes went on it dropped off without picking up any specific spots. Classic on the other hand reacted almost immediately but didn't drop off and was picking up two or three specific spots. Application numbers 4 (LS) & 5 (Classic) then followed on one of the wheel and each time there was significant reaction.

On the other wheel, previously treated with Classic, then LS, then Classic again, I used Nanolex Wheel Cleaner and Iron Remover. The reaction was significant after 5 minutes.

CarPro Iron X (Classic) progresses on a technical win.

Round 5.1

Round 5.1

CarPro Snow Soap vs CarPro Iron X

Snow Soap is a slightly different product than your typical fallout remover in that it is marketed as a snow foam that removes fallout and a shampoo that removes fallout and a dedicated fallout remover and a clay lubricant that removed fallout, depending on how you car to use it. Due to only having a sample size I opted to test it as a shampoo that removes fallout. Therefore a various to the standard routine occurred and this was tested on a dirty wheel, testing both cleaning ability and decontamination ability. CarPro advise dilution of up to 8:1 for use as a fallout remover, so I made up a solution at a lower dilution of 6:1.

Upon application I attempted to note any "bleeding effect" from Snow Soap, but because the solution is the same colour as the bleeding effect anyway it was very difficult to tell, therefore I assumed no coloured indicator of it working. IT also stinks like typical fallout removers, which makes it incredibly unpleasant to use as a shampoo. It's reasonably well lubricated, not the best but far from the worst. Snow Soap was applied, agitated and washed off, then decontamination ability was checked with a dedicated fallout remover, Iron X.

Iron X was allowed 5 minutes to work and it picked up a significant number of specific spots and areas across the surface. Enough for me to conclude that Snow Soap does little-to-nothing in decontamination stakes.

CarPro Iron X progresses.

Round 6

Round 6

CarPro Iron X vs Bilt Hamber Korrosol

A return to the standard format; separate wheels, 5 minute work time, rinse, swap wheels, 5 minute work time.

Korrosol has a very sweet scent. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a nice smell, but compared to Iron X it absolutely delightful! I Also like the standard Bilt Hamber spray head too as the spray pattern is in the Goldilocks zone; just right to achieve maximum spread without atomizing the product so much that it's blown away by the merest of breezes.

Upon second application, Iron X picked up 2 or 3 spots in corners of the spokes. Korrosol picked significantly more across the whole surface.

Bilt Hamber Korrosol progresses.

Round 7

Round 7

Dodo Juice Ferrous Dueller vs Bilt Hamber Korrosol

Standard format, 5 minute work time.

Upon second application, Korrosol reacted almost immediately (within seconds) to various spots and after 5 minutes had picked up a fair amount, both general areas and specific spots across the surface. Ferrous Dueller picked up absolutely nothing even after 5 minutes.

Bilt Hamber Korrosol progresses.

Round 8

Round 8

Bilt Hamber Korrosol vs OCD Finish Purple Haze

Standard format with a strict 7 minute and 8 second (ish) work time.

Upon second application after 5 minutes, Korrosol picked up a dozen or so spots across the surface. Purple Haze on the other hand picked up a dozen or so spots across the surface. But we can't have a draw so I went for another round of each. Korrosol picked up a few small spots. Purple Haze picked up nothing. For good measure I swapped the around again and completed a fourth application, during which Purple Haze did nothing again and Korrosol did... nothing either.

Bilt Hamber Korrosol progresses.

Round 9

Round 9

Auto Finesse Iron Out vs AutoBrite Direct Purple Rain 2.0

Standard format, 5 minute work time.

Upon second application Iron Out picked up several areas and dozens of specific spots. Purple Rain 2.0 picked up nothing at all.

AutoFinesse Iron Out progresses.

The latter stages...

Round 10

Round 10

Bilt Hamber Korrosol vs Auto Finesse Iron Out

Standard format, 6 minute work time.

Upon second application Korrosol reacted almost immediately finding several areas, Iron Out found two or three small spots.

Bilt Hamber Korrosol progresses.

Round 11

Round 11

Car Chem Revolt vs OCD Purple Haze

Due to a close run competition between Purple Haze and Korrosol I decided to give Purple Haze a second run out (and prolong the test). Standard format, 9-10 minute work time.

Upon second application, Purple Haze picked up 3 or 4 specific spots in a couple of small area of the surface, Revolt picked up a fair amount more across the whole surface.

Car Chem Revolt progresses.

Round 11.1

Round 11.1

It should be noted that during this application Revolt was a sample size bottle with a mini spray head. To eliminate that as a variable I repeated the test on different wheels having decanted the remaining Revolt into the previous full size bottle with standard spray head. During this retest, upon second application Purple Haze picked up one or two small spots, Revolt picked up several small areas and a number of specific spots across the surface.

Car Chem Revolt progresses.

Round 12

Bilt Hamber Korrosol vs Poorboys World Iron Remover

Standard format, 8-10 minute work time.

Upon second application, Korrosol picked up a fair number of specific spots and several areas across the surface. Poorboys picked up a couple of small spots across the surface.

Bilt Hamber Korrosol progresses.

The Final - Bilt Hamber Korrosol vs Car Chem Revolt

REVOLT after 10 minutes

Korrosol after 10 minutes

REVOLT after 14 minutes

That's a conclusive win for REVOLT, but you guys can make your own mind up.